Contributed by the Materials Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received April 29, 2015; final manuscript received November 24, 2015; published online January 21, 2016. Assoc. Editor: Huiling Duan.

Computer simulation of mechanical behavior of discontinuously reinforced composites containing randomly oriented short-fibers/whiskers presents an attractive opportunity for reduction of the number of experiments and resources required for microstructure design of such advanced materials. It is desirable to perform such simulations using microstructure model that accounts for randomness in angular orientations and locations of the short fibers/whiskers. In this contribution, a methodology is presented for efficient simulation of the required microstructural model through modification of well-known random sequential adsorption (RSA) algorithm for microstructure simulation through its application to the microstructure of Mg–alloy matrix composite containing randomly oriented short carbon fibers. The modified RSA algorithm enhances accuracy and efficiency of the complex geometric details of the randomly oriented short-fiber reinforced composite microstructure. Simulated microstructural model of composite is implemented in abaqus to simulate the mechanical response of the Mg–matrix composite containing randomly oriented short carbon fibers. The generated complex microstructure model in abaqus code is sliced into thin slices for reducing computing resources. The simulated results from multiple sliced models were averaged to approximate the result for the full volume element. The simulated mechanical response by use of multiple sliced models is validated via comparison with the experimental data.

Copyright in the material you requested is held by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (unless otherwise noted). This email ability is provided as a courtesy, and by using it you agree that you are requesting the material solely for personal, non-commercial use, and that it is subject to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Terms of Use. The information provided in order to email this topic will not be used to send unsolicited email, nor will it be furnished to third parties. Please refer to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Privacy Policy for further information.

Shibboleth is an access management service that provides single sign-on protected resources.
It replaces the multiple user names and passwords necessary to access subscription-based content with a single user name and password that can be entered once per session.
It operates independently of a user's location or IP address.
If your institution uses Shibboleth authentication, please contact your site administrator to receive your user name and password.